Direction-indicator for automobiles.



L T. YOUNG.

DIRECTION mmcmon FOR Amomosuas.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25.19l7 I q Patented May 1%, 1916,

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Arrow/Er;

L. T. YOUNG.

DIRECHON INDICATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION HLED JUNE 26, 1917.

' Patented May14,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mwm.

WITNESSES:

tori

" LEWIS T. YOUNG, F MARION, OHIO.

DIRECTION-INDICATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed June ".8, 1917.

ful improvements in DllGCtl()n-lllCllCtLllOlS for i uitoznobiles. ofwhich the following i a speeilitmtion.

My invention relates to new and useful nn 'noveinents in directionsignals for vehices, the primary object of nay invention being theprovision of a signal by nieans of which the driver of the vehicle,either by day or by night, may indicnte an intent to turn in eitherdirection or to stop.

A still turtl'ier object of my invention resides in a signal of thiscl'iaracter including a plurality of distinctly nun-lied semaphore armsseparately controlled by a plurality of levers which may be mounted uponthe steering wl -el til? it motor vehicle and which have operative c iunection by means of Bowden wires, with the semaphore nrnisor blades.

Another 0 eet which I have in view is the provision oi an improved formof cas ins" for norinnlly housing the sennu iliorc arms so ranged as tohold the arms against any raining.

Still. another object which i have in View is a novel inez'ins otswingingly mounting the arms so that they may be easily swung to activeposit-ion by the lovers and may swing to normal position by gravity.

in this connection, a fo ner object of my invention resides in proviling signal lights which. are disposed to cast their rays upon the i?ll; and rear faces of any semaphore ch is projected to active positionarranging a circuit for the lights including :i circuit closer whichwill be norx open and which will he closed upon ii pr n of any one ofthe semaphore arms.

rthese and other obgects in View my invent n oil he more fullydescribed, illusl accompouving drawings, and

fugnientar -J perspective ncle with my direction all-view taken casing;showing one of 'rtive position;

1o 'izontzil sectional view taken Specification of Letters Patent.

latented May 1%, L918.

Serial No. 177,043.

on the line 33 ol Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

'Fig. l is an unnssenibled perspective vievv of one of the semaphorearms and the link by which it is connected to the Bowden l i 5 s afragmentary view corresponding to Fig. 2 and illustrating a somewhatmodified form of construction;

Fig. is a perspective view showing the controlling levers mounted uponthe steering column of the vehicle.

In order to insure a clear and accurate understanding of my invention ithave illustrated it in connection with a conventional form of motorvehicle having the usual wind shield ll, steering column l2, and asteering: wheel 13, which may be of the usual, type or which may be of51 type shown at 13 in Fig. (5 which is swinginq'ly mounted upon a headll attached to the. steering column.

tlecured to the left hand side of the. wind shield is the casing 15 ofmy improved signal, this casing being substantially rectnngucarries aplurality of semaphore arms 21, and 23. Each of these semaphore armsincludes a blade Ql, preferably formed of aluminium or other sheet metal:1panncd,

painted or otherwise protected and ornaw merited. fixed betweensectional hub members which in their outer faces are formed with grooves26 to receive ball bearions 27. It will. therefore, be clear that ballraces are provided between the intermediate hub and .uiljacent hubs andcollars 28 correspondingly grooved cooperate with the outer hubs to formbearing races as well shown in Fig. 3. inscribed upon both faces of oneof the blades is a suitable signal such as the. word Stop," whileinscribed upon both faces ot another blade is a suitable signs-lv suchas the word Left, while inscribed.

upon the other blade is a signal such as the word Rig-lit. Preferablythe blades inscribed with the words Left and Right are also inscribedwith arrows pointing in the direction indicated by the words.

The outer face of the casing 01- housing is formed with a slot 2-9through which the blades may he swung When they have turned about theshaft a .d

Wall of the housing has spaced upwardly directed resilient fingers 80between which the lovver ends of the blades engage when they aredisposed Within the housing so that they vvill he held againstrattling.Each of the blades adjacent its hub is provided With a laterallydirected arm 31 which preferably carries bracing strips 32. A couplinglinh is pivoted to the free end of each arm 32 and projects into areinforcing sleeve The housing 35 of a Boivden Wire 36 is con nected tothe free end of the sleeve and the vvire 36 is connected to the free endof the link 33 so that strain exerted upon the vvire may dran the linkinto the sleeve and cause swinging of the attached semaphore arm tohorizontal position. These Bovvden Wires from the various semaphore armsrun through the bottom of the casing as shown at 37 and are led up thesteering column, be ing attached thereto by one or more clamp bands 38.A. plurality of levers are pivoted, as shown at ll), to the upper porionof the steering column above the vvheel and upon the notched segment nof the throttle and spark levers at a point where they will notinterfere With normal use of such levers. The control levers 39 areadapted for vertical swinging movement and are connected to the ends ofthe lioivden wires 36. it Will, therefore, be seen that lifting of anyone of the levers 39 will cause projection of the correspondingsemaphore arm and that when such lever is released and presseddownwardly the arm will be forced back into the casing both by theaction of the Wire and by gravity.

Carried by the extended ends of the shaft 20 are light fixtures e3 whichcarry electric lamps 44 having reflectors These lights and theirreflectors are so arranged as to cast t-heirrays upon the front and rearfaces of any semaphore arm which may be in active position. The fixturespreferably inclose switches e6 by which the current may be shut 0dduring the day time and a circuit breaker including the insulated springcontacts 47 and 48 is mounted in the casing to control the signal atnight. These spring contacts are normally spaced-from each other but areso proportioned and arranged that the movementof any semaphore arm toactive position will force the contact 48 into engagement with thecontact From the foregoing description the man nor of employing myimproved signal will be readily understood and any further explanationis believed to he unnecessary.

if desired certain modifications in construction may be made vvithout inany mav he connected by links 53 corresponding to the links to the lowerends of rack bars slidable in guides 55 carried by the casing.

Under these circumstances the inner or upper ends of the semaphoreblades, as Well as the hubs are formed circular and concentric with theshaft 20 and the hubs are formed ivith teeth 56 meshing with t1 teeth ofthe rack bars @hviously, the operation of this ignal is the same as thatof the signal in which the Bovvden Wires are connected directly tolateral arms of the semaphore blades. The rear face of the housingpreferably carries a. mirror 57 in which the driver of the vehicle mayobservetrafiicat the rear.

If desired the bracket arms 50 may bemade in telescoping sectionssothattheymaybe edjusted longitudinally to permit application 1f thebracket to vehicles of different types. 3f course, it vvill also'heunderstood that the ignal may be mounted in any suitable part of thevehicle and that the controlling levers instead of being mounted on thesteering Wheel may be secured to the dash or other part of the vehicle.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new is: v

1. direction signal including a housing formed in one side with a slot,a shaft fixed in the housing with its ends projecting through the wallsthereof, a plurality of semaphore arms sivingingly supported upon theshaft and projectahle through slots formed in the housing, means forselectively swinging the semaphore arms to project them from thehousing, and a pair of lights supported lay the ends of the shaft todirect their rays one against the front face and the o her gainst therear faceof any projected thin.

it. A direction signal including a housing, a plurality of semaphorearms selectively projectable from the housing, a pair of signal lightswith a common circuit carried by the housing to direct their raysagainst opposite sides of a projected semaphore arm, and meanscontrolling the light circuit capable of heing actuated by theprojection of any arm to close the circuit.

in testimony whereof l my signature.

LEWIS 'l", YGUNG. [Le]

